“Are you religious?”
Hm: let's see …
By first or second
meanings in the dictionary?
“Religious
–
Having or showing
belief in and reverence for
God or a deity.
*
1)
Diety – A god or goddess.
1)
Divine – Sacred. Superhuman; godlike.
1) God – A being
conceived
as the perfect, omnipotent,
omniscient
originator and ruler
of the universe.
The force, effect, or a
manifestation
or aspect of this being.
A being of
supernatural powers or attributes,
believed in and worshiped
by a people,
especially a male deity
thought to control some part of
nature or reality.
An image of a supernatural being; an
idol. ”
By 1st definitions—
where “being religious” means
anthropomorphically imposing human
intentionality
onto all aspects of sentient and
non-sentient reality—
no: I am not religious.
*
2) Diety –
The essential nature or condition of being a god; divinity.
2) Divine –
Supremely good or beautiful; magnificent.
Extremely pleasant; delightful. Heavenly; perfect.
2) God – One that is
worshiped, idealized, or followed. ”
By 2nd definitions—
where “being religious” means
believing in and revering
the natural beings and happenings in
this world,
which are essentially good, beautiful,
and
for fleeting moments pleasant and
perfect;
working to embody those ideals within
my flesh,
and appreciating their various
expressions
in a thousand other fleshes
beyond my perception—
yes: I would say that I am.
When I first saw this poem I was a little worried that I was going to come upon some blind religious preachings that aim to get me to discover my love for religion or a god, as if someone was selling me a product. However, I enjoy your approach in recognizing how often people do this, as it has been a mark of history that Christians have tried to make the entire world follow their religion, which usually happens during periods of colonization. Your idea of religion is very pure and something that I personally can relate to because it makes sense logically, yet also emotionally as I believe that everyone on this planet is born with a love for this planet’s beauty.
ReplyDeleteI think of myself as a realist, and in my short life here on Earth so far, I have heard about the good and the ugly of this world, however most of which I was never able to experience myself. This is why I love the second definition of religion as it gives me a confirmation to my philosophy about the world as beautiful because it is marred by naturally-occurring tragedies. All of the processes and events of the world are fleeting indeed, but for some reason that brings pleasure to my mind, because I also know that fleeting things always have influence on other events. That is why I would say that I am religious based of the second definition as well as I love all of the things that surround me, both good and bad, as I believe it brings a balance to the universe and it makes me believe in the potential of not only myself, but everything around me that I interact with and influence in some way, shape, or form.
"I think of myself as a realist, ... This is why I love the second definition of religion as it gives me a confirmation to my philosophy" - that's called Confirmation Bias ("the tendency to interpret new evidence as confirmation of one's existing beliefs or theories"). It's probably impossible for any of us to truly be realists - subjectively motivated as we are in our patterns of thinking. But good on you for giving it a try :)
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